


For You I Stand

by TriStarRebel09



Category: Stargate SG-1
Genre: Angst, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Angst with a Happy Ending, Daniel Jackson & Jack O'Neill Friendship, Friendship, Hurt/Comfort, Stargate Winter Fic Exchange
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-14
Updated: 2021-02-14
Packaged: 2021-03-15 05:35:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,173
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29431080
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TriStarRebel09/pseuds/TriStarRebel09
Summary: When Daniel finally snaps on a mission and refuses to listen to Jack, can the two repair their friendship and the team?
Comments: 4
Kudos: 12
Collections: Stargate Winter Fic Exchange 2020-21





	For You I Stand

**Author's Note:**

  * For [babs](https://archiveofourown.org/users/babs/gifts).



> Written for babs for the Stargate Winter Fic Exchange 2021. I so hope that you like it!

“Jack c’mon!”

“Daniel, I already said no!”

“How are we supposed to build a relationship with these people if you won’t even let me go talk to them?” Daniel threw up his hands in exasperation. 

The Colonel and his archaeologist were inches from each other’s faces, both spitting daggers. Teal’c watched impassively from the side along with Sam who was shifting uncomfortably from foot to foot. 

“SG-12 said they were dangerous and then they disappeared,” Jack said, jabbing him in the chest with a finger. “Last thing I need is for you to disappear too.”

“They didn’t say they were dangerous Jack! They just said they were extremely suspicious of outsiders!” 

“And then they disappeared!” Jack said, voice growing even louder. 

“And how are we supposed to find them if you won’t let us interact with them?” Daniel asked, folding his arms. 

“Preferably with more surveillance and then with SG-3 covering our asses.”

“That’s just going to make them trust us even less! I can do this Jack, just let me go down there for an hour, talk to them, show them we mean no harm and then I’ll come back,” he was unable to keep the note of pleading from his voice. “You’re the one who always says that we don’t leave our people behind.”

“Dammit Daniel, so help me!” Jack said, his voice reaching a dangerous tone. “We’re not leaving them behind. We’re regrouping until we can come up with a better plan. Now this is the last time I’m going to say it. No! Now let’s go, we’re due to report back to Hammond. We’ll tell him we haven’t found any sign of 12 and to send back-up.” He turned and started stomping back towards the gate. Daniel watched him go, his chest heaving with anger and emotion. 

He was startled when a hand dropped on his shoulder. “Hey,” Sam said quietly. “You okay?” 

“Yeah, no not really. Why is he being such an ass about this? After all these years why doesn’t he trust me to do this?” 

“He trusts you Daniel,” Sam replied giving his shoulder a squeeze. She dropped her hand and started walking back to the gate with Teal’c. 

“Doesn’t feel like it,” Daniel said under his breath. 

They were almost back to the gate when Daniel spoke again. 

“Hey Sam,” he said. “Uh, go on ahead, ah nature calls.”

“We’re almost back, wouldn’t you rather just wait?” 

“Kinda urgent,” he said, shrugging. 

“Okay,” she said walking ahead. “Men,” she muttered under her breath. 

She caught up with Teal’c and the Colonel, the latter of whom was pacing impatiently next to the DHD.

“Where’s Daniel?” He asked as she approached. “Time to call home.”

“Pit stop,” she said, jerking a thumb over her shoulder and pressing the buttons on the DHD to dial Earth.

The gate started spinning as the chevron’s engaged and a minute later the unstable vortex exploded outward before settling into the shimmering blue of the event horizon. 

“Daniel!” Yelled Jack. “Let’s go!” No answer. “Daniel!” He yelled again. Still silence. 

“Sonofabitch,” he fumed. 

Jack stalked through the gate back on Earth fuming. 

“Colonel,” greeted General Hammond. “How did it go?”

“Not good!” Jack said loudly. 

“I take it you didn’t find SG-12?” He scanned the group standing at the end of the ramp. “Where is Dr. Jackson?” Hammond asked. 

“I’d like to know that myself, General,” Jack seethed. 

Sam’s eyes shifted to the side. “We ah think he went back to the village to try and find SG-12 Sir.”

Hammond frowned slightly. “You think? I take it you didn’t authorize this Jack.”

“No sir. In fact I absolutely forbid it. Those villagers were armed to the teeth and there was no sign of 12. But when does Daniel ever listen to me? He insisted he could talk to them.” 

The General sighed. “Go get cleaned up, we’ll debrief in 20 min.”

Jack nodded and strode angrily out of the room. 

“Yes Sir,” Sam said before following him through the doorway. 

Sam ran to catch up with the Colonel halfway down the hallway. 

“Sir!” she called. “Sir!” 

“Yes Major,” he said, turning to look at her. 

“Sir, I wanted to apologize.”

“What for?” 

“I’m sorry for letting Daniel get away. I knew what he wanted, and I shouldn’t have let him out of my sight but I never imagined he’d just leave.”

“Never even considered it was your fault Carter. Can’t blame you for the man being a colossal, stubborn idiot. No more worrying about it, okay?”

She nodded and he started to turn away but she stopped him again. “Sir…” she hesitated. “Sir we are going back for him, right? We’re not leaving him there?”

Jack’s eyes narrowed. “Oh we’re going to go back for him. We’re going to find him and bring him back home and once we do I’m going to kill him myself!”

“Yes Sir,” she said as she watched Jack stalk back down the hallway. She could almost feel his foul mood hanging in the air like a dense, dismal fog. 

Daniel tried to force his eyes open. He wasn’t sure if he succeeded and it was simply too dark to see or if they were still closed. His head pounded and his mind drifted away. Where was he? What happened? 

Slowly it came back. He was furious with Jack for trying to order him back to the gate. So he left and went back to the village. He wasn’t planning on being gone long. He just wanted to start a dialogue with the people who lived there. Hopefully find out what happened to SG-12. 

He was standing in the street, talking to a man who lived there, asking what he knew when he heard shouting. He had tried to turn to see what the commotion was when pain exploded across the back of his head and everything had gone black. 

Shakily he raised his hand to the back of his head and found it covered in a thick, still sticky mat of blood. He went to rub his eyes and belatedly realized that his glasses were missing. He tried to roll onto his side to sit up and to feel around with his hands to figure out where he was but just moving sent waves of pain through his head and down his back. He stopped and slowly, so as not to agitate his head again.

His heart was pounding and he swallowed hard past lips that were cracked and his throat was dry. How long had it been since he left? Hours? A day? His throbbing head was making it hard to concentrate. 

Would Jack, Sam and Teal’c even come back for him? He thought to himself as he began to drift out of consciousness again. Even if they wanted to would General Hammond let them? _Jack, I’m sorry._ Was his last thought as he faded away once again. 

“Over here O’Neill! I have found him.”

“Daniel! Daniel? Can you hear me?”

“Carter?”

“He’s alive Sir, but he’s lost a lot of blood. We need to get him back home.”

Voices floated through the dark haze that was his consciousness. _Jack? Sam? Teal’c?_ He tried to make his lips form the words but nothing came out. We’re they really here? Had they found him?

A hand gave his upper arm a reassuring squeeze. Warm even through his shirt. “You’re going to be okay Daniel, we’re going to get you home.”

Home. Earth. 

He moved his chin, just a fraction of an inch, to show he had heard. 

He forced his eyes open to see several blurred figures standing over him, silhouetted against a blaze of light that made him squeeze them shut again.

“Teal’c, how’re we looking?”

“SG-3 reports they have not seen any further signs of hostility. They continue to hold the gate.”

“Great, better not waste time then. Let’s get him home.” 

A hand slid under him, slid him over. The pain in his head awoke and exploded in agony at the movement and everything went black again. 

Jack paced up and down the hallway outside the SGC infirmary. Janet had met them in the gateroom as soon as they had gotten back to Earth and rushed Daniel away. He had been waiting with Sam and Teal’c for almost an hour now. 

“Janet said he’d be okay Sir,” Sam said tentatively as he walked towards her before turning again. 

“I know,” he answered. 

Sam threw a glance at Teal’c and shrugged slightly. 

“Are you still concerned that Daniel Jackson will not recover O’Neill?” Teal’c asked. 

“He better recover,” Jack growled. “So I can bust his ass for disobeying a direct order. “Carter.” he said suddenly, wheeling around again. “Didn’t I tell you that if Daniel got the urge to help somebody again to shoot him?”

“Ah…” she hesitated but was saved from answering by Janet who pushed her way through the infirmary doors. 

They all straightened up as she walked towards them.

“Well?” Jack demanded.

“He’s going to be fine Sir,” she answered. “I stitched up the back of his head. He has a hell of a concussion and suffered severe dehydration, but he’ll be back to normal in a few days here. It’s a good thing you guys found him when you did though.”

Sam blew out a sigh of relief and smiled. “That’s good to hear Janet. When can we see him?”

“He’s pretty drugged up right now, but you can come in if you want,” the doctor answered. 

Sam followed Janet and Teal’c into the infirmary but turned at the door to see the Colonel still standing in the hallway. 

“Sir, you coming?” She asked. 

He backed away slowly. “I ah, need to finish my report on the mission for Hammond. I’ll come back down later.”

“Sir,” she began, but he had already turned and was walking away down the hallway. She frowned and hesitated a moment, but knew better than to chase after him. Pushing her way through the doors she went to go see Daniel. 

It had been a day and Jack still was coming up with excuses for not making it to the infirmary. He had taken as long as he could on his report. Then he had offered to help Siler run a maintenance check on the base power systems. He was just thinking that he would take an extra long lunch when he walked right into Sam who was exiting the mess hall holding a stack of cookies in a napkin. 

“I’m sorry Sir!” she said stepping back, face reddening slightly.

“It’s okay Carter, my fault, I wasn’t paying attention.” He looked down at her hands.

“Oh,” she said. “These are for Daniel. You know he hates the infirmary food, so I was going to sneak these in to him.”

“Tsk, tsk Major,” he said, shaking his head in mock disapproval. 

She smiled, then hesitated a moment before speaking again. “He’s been asking about you, Daniel has. Said you haven’t been by yet.”

“Just been busy,” he said, noncommittal.

“He feels really bad,” she continued quietly. “He didn’t mean to let you down, you know.”

“Carter, he disobeyed a direct order and almost got himself killed in the process.”

“Well, not a first for either of those.” His eyes narrowed and she hurried on. “It’s just when has Daniel ever cared about orders? But he respects you. Look, I know it’s not my place, but I just think maybe if you talked to him you two could work it out. For the sake of the team,” she added quickly. 

“Maybe,” said and he walked past her into the dining hall. 

Daniel rolled over in the narrow infirmary bed. He had been tossing and turning, unable to fall into a deep sleep. He opened his eyes to see Jack O’Neill inches from his face.

“Gah!!” he yelled loudly, sliding across the sheets and clutching his chest. 

“Ah, you’re awake,” Jack said vaguely, leaning back into the chair that was next to Daniel’s bed. 

“Jesus Jack! You about gave me a heart attack. What the hell are you doing?”

“Just came by to say hi.”

“By creepily watching me sleep?” Daniel asked.

“Just making sure you were still breathing,” Jack said, sounding slightly amused. 

“Better hope Janet didn’t hear that,” Daniel muttered, his heart beat slowly returning to normal. 

“She’s out with Carter,” Jack said, waving a hand. 

“So, going to smother me with my pillow?”

“Thought about it.” The two men stared at each other for a long minute until finally Daniel sighed and broke eye contact, seeming to melt slightly into his bed. 

“Look Jack, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have gone back.” Jack kept staring and Daniel sighed loudly. “You were right okay.”

Jack looked smug and folded his arms across his chest. “Course I was right Daniel, I’m always right.”  
“Ah, I’m pretty sure I could name several instances to the contrary…” he trailed off as Jack fixed him with a piercing look. “But uh, that’s really neither here nor there. Anyway, I ah just expected you to be more mad.”

“Well, you almost got yourself killed, and turns out those villagers were planning on selling you and SG-12 to the Goa'uld to work in a naquadah mine if we hadn’t come back and rescued your ass, so I guess that’s punishment enough.”

Daniel looked down at the sheet he had twisted up into his hands. “Janet said they’re all going to be okay too. So, uh that’s good.” Silence fell again. 

“Just tell me this, what were you trying to prove Daniel?” Jack asked after a minute.

“I just thought you didn’t trust me enough to do it,” he answered, not looking up.

“Daniel,” Jack said sharply. “I trust you with my life. Every time we step through that gate. Of course I trust you. I just…” he stopped for a moment and cleared his throat. “I just don’t want to lose you. Not again. Not when there’s something I can do about it.”

Daniel finally looked up at him. “Thanks,” he said, his voice thick. “And thanks for coming back for me.”

“Don’t mention it,” Jack said leaning back in his chair and propping his feet up on the bed. “But you ever pull a stunt like that again I will happily let the Goa'uld have you.”

A week later Jack and Daniel stood on Carter’s front porch. Janet had finally relented and released Daniel from the infirmary. Jack arrived to pick him up but instead of taking him home he drove them to Sam’s. 

“Where are we going Jack?” Daniel asked as they drove out of the base and turned the opposite direction from his apartment. 

“Carter’s. Team night.”

“Were you going to tell me?” Daniel asked, annoyance mixed with amusement. 

“Just did,” Jack answered, leaning over to flick the dial on the radio. 

Daniel sighed and settled back in his seat. He had apologized again and again to the whole team for what had happened. Teal’c had nodded solemnly and told Daniel he understood he was just doing what he felt to be right. Sam had given him a big hug and told him not to worry about it. 

Jack… well he knew Jack had forgiven him in his own way, but he still felt it, an invisible barrier keeping him from the rest of the team and the way it had been between them. 

Sam answered the door and grinned when she saw them standing there. 

“Good to see you out of the infirmary Daniel!” She said taking the case of beer Jack handed her. “You sure you shouldn’t be home resting though?” She asked walking into the house. 

“Didn’t seem as though I had much choice in the matter,” Daniel said dryly, following her to the living room. 

“Well, we’re glad you’re here,” she said, setting the case on the table next to a veggie tray and opening it up. “It’s Teal'c's turn to pick the movie.”

Teal’c, who was already standing next to the table, giant slice of pizza in hand, inclined his head. “Indeed,” he said.

“So I assume that means we will be watching Star Wars? Again?” Jack asked dryly. 

“We are not O’Neill,” Teal’c replied.

“Oh really?” The Colonel said.

“I have chosen to look at other films that the heroic Earth actor Harrison Ford has been in and therefore have decided that we will be watching Indiana Jones.”

Jack and Sam simultaneously turned their heads towards Daniel.

“Are you kidding me?” Daniel said incredulously. “Do you know how inaccurate those films are? They just make archaeology look like a treasure hunt! They ah they don’t even come close to portraying it the way it’s meant to be done!”

“Sounds like a great choice T!” Jack said, grabbing a beer and standing up. “At least we don’t have to listen to Carter telling us that parsecs are units of distance, not time.”

“Well they are!” she argued. 

“C’mon Dr. Jackson,” Jack said plopping down on the couch and reaching for the remote to turn on the TV. “Grab your whip, there’s treasure to be found.”

Over the next several hours Daniel felt the wall between him and the team slowly dissolve away. Jack had pelted him with carrots every time he opened his mouth to point out a historical or scientific inaccuracy. After a couple beers Sam sighed and asked out loud why real archaeologists didn’t look like Indiana.

“Uh, hello Sam?” Daniel waved at her from his seat on the floor.

“What?” she said innocently. “I stand by it!”

Jack snorted loudly and even Teal’c cracked a grin. 

In the end Teal’c pronounced it a well done film but not as good as Star Wars. 

“Well damn,” Jack muttered to Daniel who smiled. He felt lighter than he had in days. They were going to be okay. 

Sam picked up the empty pizza box and headed to the kitchen. Teal’c stood up as well. 

"Daniel Jackson," he said, turning to look down at Daniel where he was sitting on the floor. "Do you know the location of this warehouse where the Ark can be located?"

Daniel stared at him. "What? Teal'c are you serious? It's not real! There is no Ark of the Covenant! It's just a movie."

An unmistakable smirk crossed the former Jaffa's face. 

"Wait, that was a joke?" Daniel asked incredulously. 

"Nice one," Jack said. Teal'c nodded in acceptance. 

"You had me going there for a minute Teal'c," Daniel said. "But the Ark really is just a myth. 

"So was the Stargate on your world," Teal'c said. He picked up the almost full veggie tray and followed Sam into the kitchen. Daniel watched him go, mouth hanging slightly open. Jack laughed quietly then reached down from the couch and squeezed Daniel’s shoulder. 

“Glad to have you back Danny,” he said, his grip warm and reassuring. 

“Glad to be back Jack," he replied. And he meant it more than he could say. 


End file.
